eat local

This week is the Wisconsin Eat Local Challenge. Why eat local? I eat local to support a sustainable local economy, to decrease the distance my food has traveled, and because I feel more connected to my food if I know where it came from. Eating locally allows me to be connected to the seasons. I get excited when asparagus makes it appearance in the spring, long for tomato sandwiches, wait patiently for fall apples, and cozy up with winter squash when the weather gets cold.

Now that it is fall we will be grilling less, so I figured we would do one last hurrah on Saturday: Grilled grass fed beef, salad greens with feta and raspberries, and roasted potatoes and onions. We washed it down with a bottle of wine, while sitting on the deck listening to baseball. Good-bye summer we will see you next year. I'll be waiting for the tomatoes.

The weather turned cold on Sunday. Making me think about comfort food. The last of the corn was at market, so I made a lovely corn chowder. I also bought peppers for stuffed peppers, and beets for roasting.

I encourage you to get out and experience some local food this week. Visit a Farmer's Market, local farm stand, or orchard and sample what is in season in your area.

end of summer

My friends and I took our annual trip to G's cottage in Door County. There was much laughter, singing (Bohemian Rhapsody was a favorite), knitting and eating. We enjoyed coffee by the water (her cottage is on Lake Michigan), both mornings. We went hiking at Whitefish Dunes State Park, and Cave Point. What a way to spend the last weekend of summer, the weather was glorious!!

I have been in a serious spinning phase.

'Dingo' Polwarth, spun from fiber dyed by David at Southern Cross Fibers. Navajo plied, light worsted weight. I love the colors.

Alpaca Merino, dyed by Jen at Laughing Rat Fibers. 'House Finch' colorway, she over dyed brown merino, the depth of color is lovely. Fingering weight, 2 ply. I gave this to my friend Kate, just because it reminded me of her.

'Adelaide' merino, from David at Southern Cross Fibers. 2ply worsted/dk-ish. I am knitting this into a lovely scarf for myself.

grammie rosie

I am missing my grammie today. She passed away 4 years ago, and I miss her, almost daily. What I miss most is how she made me feel. I always felt special to her. She was always interested in what I was doing; who I was becoming. As a child, I was always at her house. As I grew older, our relationship evolved. I lived close to her until I moved away from Maine. We spent many hours together. She would tell me stories of her life, we would look at old photos, and we would talk. I knew most of her friends, and she most of mine. Strange, I don't know hardly any of my friends grandparents. People enjoyed being around her. Her eyes sparkled, and her smile let you know how happy she was to see you. I miss those eyes.

Often she and I would go shopping. She was always up for an outing. She enjoyed sitting in the mall, while I shopped. When I would return, I would almost always find her chatting away with someone..."well they just started talking to me" she would say. When I was in college (OT school), another student, who I had never met, made it a point to tell me that she met grammie a church retreat, and how much she enjoyed meeting her.

She was always willing to go on an adventure and try new things. She loved sushi and Thai food (both of which she tried in her 80's). In the summer she would go camping with us, and rarely turned down a chance to travel. Her motto was "I'm 80, who is going to tell me no"

She turned 90 the summer before she died. She fell and broke her hip, while making her bed. She came through the surgery fine. I called her to talk, the night after her surgery. We were joking about me not making my bed, and how she was too nosey to die....that she would be around till she was at least 100. She laughed, and then said "no, it's ok, I'll go when it is my time." The next day she had a heart attack and died. I am grateful she didn't suffer and remained fairly independent till the end. Her mind was sharp, and spirit was young.



To celebrate her 'Joie De Vivre', I'll leave you with this happy yarn, colorful like my grammie. Stormy Sea, dyed by Gale's Art, 250 yards of worsted weight, 2ply. Destined to be mittens for my niece and my friend's daughter:

sheep dreams

Ever since reading The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett in college, I have wanted sheep. More specifically, I have wanted a farm on the coast of Maine with sheep. It is the stuff of my day dreams. When I decided on this dream, I wasn't knitting or spinning. It was in that time between childhood and adulthood. I don't know why this idea was so appealing to me at that time in my life. Was it foreshadowing my future fiber pursuits?

Since I can't pack-up and move to a farm in Maine just yet, I love to going to fiber festivals to hang-out with sheep. This weekend was the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival. Whyboy, PK, and I enjoyed a lovely afternoon there. We toured the barns petting sheep. Whyboy was determined to find the Jacob ram we saw last year. My favorites were the Bluefaced Leicesters. They had such sweet faces, and loved being scratched behind the ears. Plus, their fiber is one of my favorites to spin.

As with any fiber festival the was fiber...lots of fiber. I got to meet Gale of Gale's Art in person. Her booth was a riot of color and texture. I indulged just a bit, and fell head over heels for her alpaca silk roving. I usually avoid silk, because of the smell, which aggravates my allergies. Gale's silk had none of the nasty smell. I have been spinning it without difficulty. It is gorgeous and shimmers in the sun as I spin. I caught up with friends, who were vending. Jeanette (Sun Valley Fibers) from my knitting group was there selling her lovely yarns. At the end of the day there was ice cream, Whyboy needed a reward. Today, I went back, and took a plying class. It really helped me with the concept of a balanced yarn.

cold hands

My hands are almost always cold. Last week when the morning temps dipped into the 40's (did mention it was August?), I realized: I am a knitter....I can knit warmth for my hands. I didn't really want to drag out my mittens, I mean it was August...I didn't want to look like a total dork. I decided on fingerless mitts (ok, I still look like a dork). For yarn I chose handspun, 'Cherry Pie', a corrie-cross dyed by Gale's Art. I spun the yarn as singles, using a woolen draw and low twist, fulling them slightly in the finishing. I followed Amy King's instructions, for fulling singles, in Spin Control. I was afraid I would felt them...but I didn't. The resulting yarn is very soft and slightly fuzzy.

Now I needed a pattern. A quick search on ravelry pulled up the Maine Morning Mitts by Clara Parks from the Knitter's Book of Yarn. How convenient, I own that book! Being a displaced Mainer, knitting Maine Morning Mitts made me smile. The pattern is very easy, and relaxing. It is the perfect end of summer, heading into fall knitting. I finished them up in a few days. Of course, now it has warmed up again, but I know fall is around the corner. Now I am ready.

first day of school

Today was Whyboy's first day of first grade. All I can say is what a difference a year makes. Last year he clung to us, tentatively walking in with his class, looking back to see if we would follow. J was the only parent, who stayed on the playground in the morning, those first few months. Whyboy needed him there, and J needed to be there. Slowly he felt more sure of himself, and found his way on the playground and in the classroom.

Last week when we went to meet his teacher, he announced "I love the smell of school!" Over the year he grew to love school and embrace the community. This morning he threw down his backpack and took off to the playground, looking for friends. He cheerfully greeted his classmates from last year, and was happy that some would be in the same class this year. He walked confidently up the stairs, into first grade with his class, without a look back. My tentative kindergartner had become a confident first grader. I watched him disappear into the building, with a smile on my face and tears in my eyes...I now know why my mom cried every year on the first day of school....Bittersweet. It's going to be a great year.